Policy Measures on Foreign Nationals: How Should Stricter Regulations and Coexistence Be Balanced?

Editorial

16:22 JST, February 2, 2026

With labor shortages accelerating, foreign workers have become indispensable to maintaining society. Most of them live their lives decently, but various frictions have emerged as their numbers have increased.

What efforts should be made to build a society where both Japanese and foreign nationals can live together with peace of mind? The ruling and opposition parties must have constructive discussions on this issue during campaigning for the upcoming House of Representatives election.

Last month, the government decided on a new basic policy package of measures regarding foreign nationals.

While continuing to aim for coexistence with foreign nationals, the government has notably drawn up measures to strengthen regulations, saying that the people have felt concern and a sense of unfairness due to acts by foreign nationals, such as those deviating from laws and rules.

Specifically, the government plans to intensify investigations into foreign nationals who fail to pay taxes or social insurance premiums, as well as into illegal foreign workers. It also plans to consider expanding the current scope of charges subject to deportation beyond violent crimes, such as murder, and drug offenses, among other charges.

Strengthening measures against fraud and crimes to ensure foreign nationals abide by social rules is different from xenophobia. This can be considered reasonable in order to dispel public concerns.

The policy package also states that the government intends to organize its thinking by summer regarding whether to regulate foreign acquisition of Japanese land that is critical to national security, such as areas surrounding Self-Defense Force facilities.

In 1995, Japan joined an international agreement on free trade that prohibits unfair restrictions on foreign companies seeking to acquire land for purposes such as setting up their branch offices.

Given that, restricting land acquisition by foreign nationals risks violating this agreement. Careful consideration is needed to determine whether taking measures is possible in a manner that does not violate the agreement.

During campaigning for the lower house election, calls for tighter regulations have been conspicuous with candidates making such remarks as “Let good foreigners in and bad foreigners out” and “Speculative transactions have driven up condominium prices.”

This may be attributable to their awareness of Sanseito’s significant gains in last summer’s House of Councillors election, where the party called for stricter regulations on foreign nationals. However, directing public frustration with daily life, which comes from rising prices and other factors, toward foreign nationals is imprudent.

On the other hand, some people advocate for a multicultural society where Japanese and foreign nationals coexist, but this alone cannot resolve the problems associated with an increase in a foreign national population.

In the first place, there are problems with the current situation, in which the central government has promoted accepting foreign nationals while leaving the task of teaching them the Japanese language, local customs and other matters to local governments. The ruling and opposition parties should hold discussions from multiple perspectives on these issues, including devising mid- to long-term plans about the number of foreign residents to be accepted.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 2, 2026)